Citation: Picoult, J. (2004). My sister’s keeper. New York: Atria Books. ISBN – 978-0-7434-8881-5
Award: 2006 9-12 Kentucky Bluegrass Award
Summary: My Sister’s Keeper is about a families struggle with leukemia, Kate, the oldest has had leukemia since childhood and her sister Anna, who is not sick, but was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate. The family is shocked, when Anna hires a lawyer so that she can sue her parents to have the right to make her own choices about her body. Sara, the mother fights to beep Kate alive, but at the same time you feel sympathy for Anna who has to endure all of this. This is a story that makes you question, what would do if you were in any of their situations.
What I liked about it: What I liked about the story was all of it. I thought the story was unique and unlike anything I had read before. I was torn between being on Anna’s side or her mother’s side. I can’t imagine being told what I would have to do with my own body, but I can also imagine how hard I would fight to save one of my children. I especially loved the ending and the twist, but I kind of predicted it before it happened.
Kentucky Common Core Curriculum: Grade Level – 9-12 CC.11-12.SL.1 Comprehension and Collaboration: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CC.11-12.SL.1.b Comprehension and Collaboration: Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
CC.9-10.R.L.2 Key Ideas and Details: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CC.11-12.W.8 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Activity -Developing Content Area Literacy Strategy 28 Academic Controversy
Before Discussion – The teacher will present the topic that will be explored Children Conceived for Medical Purposes: Beneficial or harmful? Students will be split into quads and then split into pairs representing the pros and cons. Students will be given a graphic organizer of the pros and cons to prepare for their discussion. Students will then research the pros and cons of the topic. Students can choose what mode of their argument they will use (video, PowerPoint, or oral presentation). During Discussion – The teacher will provide each group with note-taking sheets to help students organize the information. First, the supporting group will present while the other group takes notes. After they have presented the opposing pair has 1 minute to challenge or question their argument. Then, the process is repeated for those against. Again, after they are finished presenting the opposing group has 1 minute to challenge or question their argument. After Discussion – When the quads are finished with their presentations the students will reflect using their note-taking sheets on new information they learned or opinions that were brought up in the discussions. The students will record how their thinking has changed as a result of hearing the information from both sides of the argument. Students will report their reflections with their groups. The students can discuss as a whole class.
Citation: Picoult, J. (2004). My sister’s keeper. New York: Atria Books. ISBN – 978-0-7434-8881-5
Award: 2006 9-12 Kentucky Bluegrass Award
Summary: My Sister’s Keeper is about a families struggle with leukemia, Kate, the oldest has had leukemia since childhood and her sister Anna, who is not sick, but was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate. The family is shocked, when Anna hires a lawyer so that she can sue her parents to have the right to make her own choices about her body. Sara, the mother fights to beep Kate alive, but at the same time you feel sympathy for Anna who has to endure all of this. This is a story that makes you question, what would do if you were in any of their situations.
What I liked about it: What I liked about the story was all of it. I thought the story was unique and unlike anything I had read before. I was torn between being on Anna’s side or her mother’s side. I can’t imagine being told what I would have to do with my own body, but I can also imagine how hard I would fight to save one of my children. I especially loved the ending and the twist, but I kind of predicted it before it happened.
Kentucky Common Core Curriculum:
Grade Level – 9-12
CC.11-12.SL.1 Comprehension and Collaboration: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CC.11-12.SL.1.b Comprehension and Collaboration: Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
CC.9-10.R.L.2 Key Ideas and Details: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CC.11-12.W.8 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Activity -Developing Content Area Literacy Strategy 28 Academic Controversy
Before Discussion – The teacher will present the topic that will be explored Children Conceived for Medical Purposes: Beneficial or harmful? Students will be split into quads and then split into pairs representing the pros and cons. Students will be given a graphic organizer of the pros and cons to prepare for their discussion. Students will then research the pros and cons of the topic. Students can choose what mode of their argument they will use (video, PowerPoint, or oral presentation).
During Discussion – The teacher will provide each group with note-taking sheets to help students organize the information. First, the supporting group will present while the other group takes notes. After they have presented the opposing pair has 1 minute to challenge or question their argument. Then, the process is repeated for those against. Again, after they are finished presenting the opposing group has 1 minute to challenge or question their argument.
After Discussion – When the quads are finished with their presentations the students will reflect using their note-taking sheets on new information they learned or opinions that were brought up in the discussions. The students will record how their thinking has changed as a result of hearing the information from both sides of the argument. Students will report their reflections with their groups. The students can discuss as a whole class.